Surrender to the Call
by YouRang
Summary: The sequel to "The Call of the Void." Levi has been retaken by HYDRA and Bucky is desperate to find her before they destroy her completely. Can the team find Levi while there is still something left to save? I only own Levi. Rated M for extreme violence, language, descriptions of torture, smut and deep, deep angst. (Bucky/OFC)
1. Chapter 1

A hoarse scream ripped from his throat, and his eyes snapped open as his body jolted painfully, heart hammering in his chest. Sweat coated his bare skin as he gasped, trying to slow his breathing, change the desperate wheeze to a slower, regular measure.

"Levi," the word torn from his mouth, agonizing, tearing tender flesh as it passed and a sorrow and grief so heavy they were choking settled on his chest. He rolled to his side, trying to alleviate the torment, but it was futile.

Pushing wearily to sit upright, Bucky reached for a pair of sweats and a shirt, pulling them on mindlessly. There would be no more sleep tonight, Bucky was shocked he'd managed to close his eyes at all.

The common room was empty at first glance, but Bucky knew he was here and he wandered slowly to the chair facing the window, sitting heavily beside his friend.

Steve jolted, so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't heard Bucky approach. He didn't bother to wipe away the tears trailing down his cheeks, they would continue to flow anyway, and soon Bucky would be joining him.

"Anything?" Bucky mumbled, the hope in his voice long since gone.

Steve shook his head. "The report was useless. Tony is trying again, but he's running out of favours."

Bucky nodded, more a reflex than anything else.

"She's out there." Steve replied, his voice fighting to be strong, cracking anyway.

"It's been four weeks Steve, God knows what they're doing to her right now-" Bucky broke off, fighting a sob. The full brunt of the anguish he'd been holding back since waking from his nightmare crashed down on him then, and he gave in to the misery, hardly able to breathe through the tears. After a moment, he felt Steve rest his head against his, and his friends' tears joined his own.

"_She is strong."_ The voice held an edge of respect, a bite of frustration._ "Again."_ He commanded.

The machine powered up, a high-pitched whine filling the air.

Levi, clad only in a sweat-soaked muscle shirt and cargo pants, tensed, eyes going wide as the memory suppressor fired through her again, lips curling back from the bite guard as she started to scream in agony, panic filling her eyes as the last of her memories of Bucky, of the Avengers, of her life were ripped away.

She slumped, only half-conscious in the restraints as the machine wound down. Flickers danced in her mind, flashes of a handsome brown-haired man, his almost supernatural blue eyes, a smile that she knew was just for her-

"_Again."_

_Bucky shivered, ears ringing, dust clouding his lungs, his limbs jerked spastically with residual shock. He coughed violently, wincing at the pain. Half-crushed by fallen debris, he could hardly move, hardly piece together what had just happened. Then it hit him, like a freight train._

"Why do I feel like I'm in a movie?"

"What?"

"It looks... Staged! Like this is a -"

_A trap. _

_A goddamn HYDRA trap, and they had walked right into it. _

_HYDRA had been lying in wait, laid the deception and, lulled by time, the team had given them exactly what they'd wanted._

_Levi._

_Bucky could sense that she was nowhere near him anymore. Beyond his enhanced senses, he just _felt _when Levi was near him, like a low-level charge... and it was gone. _

_HYDRA had taken their experiment back._

_Bucky threw his head back and screamed, a gut-wrenching, blood-chilling, heart-breaking wail of absolute devastation._

_**********************************************************************************************"Ready."_ The technician reported.

"_Corporeal... Ravenous."_

Levi jolted in her restraints, head still swimming. Something about these words was wrong- NO!

"N-no!" She fought to protest, too disoriented, too weak to make an impact. The voice continued in emotionless Russian.

"_Twilight."_

"No. NO!" Levi managed to scream, but it was getting harder to remember just what she was screaming for-

"_Pure... Evergreen... Forge."_

"Bucky! Buck-..."

"_Deviate. Fracture. Sister. Sorrow... Welcome back, soldier."_

"_Ready to Comply."_

"Goddammit!" Bucky raged, throwing all his frustration into his arm, his fist connecting with the heavy bag. The suffering chain finally snapped and the bag flew, splattering on the floor of the training area and hemorrhaging sand all over the floor. "It's been four fucking months! Where is she?!"

Steve stayed silent. No one knew, and the team had worked itself past the point of insanity to find out; but Levi had all but disappeared. It was too painful to contemplate what Levi had potentially experienced at HYDRA's hands these past months, and so Steve didn't, throwing himself into exploring every last avenue, every last dark corner. Every lead had been followed up on, every file and report reexamined for fresh information, the team attacking and raiding any potential source of information, every potential HYDRA hideout, every abandoned base.

Nothing.

The team was unrecognizable in their grief, but none had changed more than Bucky. The only thing keeping him going was the drive to find Levi, to rescue her. Memories of his own tortures, speculation of what Levi was being subjected to haunted him constantly. He hardly slept, collapsing from abject exhaustion every few days, twitching and thrashing awake with guttural screams mere hours later.

He ate, but only to maintain his frame and power so he could deliver vengeance when Levi was found. His workouts and training had become hard to watch, the drive of a dangerously obsessed man with only one goal in mind.

He would find Levi, his soulmate; and he would tear apart and drink the blood of her captors.

Tony had called in every favour owed, begged and did deals for even more, turning the globe inside out. Money was no object, nothing was too outrageous to utilize, but still there was no trace.

Staggering, Bucky fell heavily to his knees; dropping his head, his hair now shaggy and unkempt, into shaking, bloodstained hands. Steve's enhanced hearing picked up the sound of sobs being desperately fought back and his heart broke further for his friend.

Bucky had finally believed himself deserving of happiness, had finally found the person who completed him, who soothed and healed his damaged soul and loved him back every bit as strongly as he loved them; and now, the man who'd lost his whole life at one point, had lost it again.

It wasn't fucking fair.

And, even if they did manage to find Levi this time, which was looking more and more unlikely with each passing day... _what _would they find? What shattered, broken, devastated wreck would they encounter; what brainwashed monster, with no memories of Bucky or her friends, only the orders to destroy them?

Movement at the corner of his eye startled him and Steve glanced over, surprised to see Tony approaching. Tony was rarely seen outside of his office or his lab; either searching tirelessly for Levi or trying to decompress by tinkering. He hadn't attended a family dinner in weeks, not that the team held any sort of lighthearted gatherings anymore anyway. Tony's eyes were wild, sweat on his face, clothes wrinkled and rumpled; this wasn't anything new, not since Levi was taken at any rate, but the stench of dread on him was.

"Tony? What-"

"Steve-" Tony broke off, swallowing hard. "You need to come see this."

This too made Steve instantly fearful. Whatever this was, it had disconcerted Tony enough to make him act completely out of character, and the man who normally would have had FRIDAY call, or texted Steve had instead thought only of running and finding the man personally.

"What is it-" He broke off with a grimace as Tony's claw-like fingers gripped his forearm painfully. Unspoken dread, horror and anguish showed in Tony's dark eyes and Steve felt the beginnings of real terror. Stumbling, he followed the billionaire as he all but dragged the Captain from the room.

It couldn't be. It couldn't... no.

"You think it's her?" It was a pointless question.

"You don't?" The barest hint of Tony's natural sarcasm bled through.

"God, I wish it wasn't. But it has to be... That's why they took her, right?"

Tony nodded soberly, turning his attention to the flat screen.

_AMERICAN EMBASSY IN RUINS _the headline scrolled. The commentator sat speechless, mouth opening and closing, stumbling over her words. _THE EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES, LOCATED IN MOSCOW, HAS BEEN DESTROYED IN WHAT WITNESSES CALL 'AN APOCALYPTIC-LIKE EVENT'._

Another monitor showed the carnage, unfiltered and raw. Tony's access to live feeds not available to the public hammered home the severity. This was not what the public would see, they would be fed a sanitized version.

Blackened, still twitching bodies littered the ground. Burning people, their visible skin blistering and peeling off in raw strips staggered mindlessly. Others sat, stunned, holding bloodied rags to ruined skulls, or lay flat-out, brain dying but still making the body's limbs move in spastic, random jerks.

_INITIAL ESTIMATES SAY 340 DEAD, ADDITIONAL 200 INJURED, 500 STILL UNACCOUNTED FOR._

Ice cold fear trickled down Steve's spine. Tony looked like he would be physically sick.

"It can't be her, it..."

"It's her." A new voice spoke, guttural and savage. Steve turned to see Bucky entering the office. His eyes were red-rimmed, jaw clenched. "They took her and turned her back into a killer."

_NO SUSPECTS AT PRESENT, REBEL GROUP 'PEOPLE'S VOICE' IS CLAIMING RESPONSIBILITY, INTELLIGENCE SOURCES SAY GROUP NOT LARGE ENOUGH TO CARRY OUT SUCH AN ATTACK, PRESIDENT IS APPRISED AND HAS BEEN MOVED TO UNDISCLOSED, SAFE LOCATION._

"Jesus," Steve mumbled, numb with shock.

"HYDRA is declaring war on the United StatesGovernment, and they used Levi to fire the first shot." Tony announced, his voice bleak.

"We can't wait any longer!" Bucky raged, pacing. His fists clenched and unclenched spasmodically.

"We still don't know where to look!" Steve shouted back, breathing heavily.

"Anything's better than just standing here, waiting to hear about the next attack!" Bucky roared, slamming his metal fist into the wall. The metal gave with a groan under his savagery, the normally quiet whirring of Bucky's metal arm rising to a screech as the advanced prosthetic strained under the onslaught. Bucky stared at his metal hand in silence, chest heaving, flexing the fist a few times until the mechanical sounds settled. This seemed to break through his fury and he turned back to face the rest of the team, jaw clenched and eyesf lowered, but no longer radiating dangerous violence.

"That's why we're here, reviewing the information again." Nat spoke up now. "What do we know for sure?"

Tony turned in his chair, pointing a tiny remote at a bank of flat screens. Twelve simultaneous images appeared.

"Okay, attack number one... the US Embassy in Moscow."

The team winced, forcing themselves to watch the footage. The final body count had been just over 500, with 325 injured and over 200 considered missing because what remained was simply too destroyed to identify.

"Two... the Embassy in Paris. Not as many dead this time, but the Secretary of State was hit this time. What's the last update of his status?"

Wanda spoke up, tapping at a tablet, her voice subdued. "No longer in a coma, looks like permanent and devastating brain damage though."

The footage continued, the stakes raising with each new image. HYDRA was steadily eroding the US government with coordinated, guerilla-like attacks, and no amount of preparation seemed to help. The country was at the brink of war, with no idea where to point the missile. Speculation ran rampant, but there was never enough evidence. Faint, vague, blurry images from security cameras surfaced occasionally, showing potential leads, but nothing more could be determined.

"A solitary figure was caught on closed circuit cameras entering the Embassy approximately 15 minutes before the first explosion and exiting approximately 11 minutes later," a newscaster in the latest footage reported, twelve copies of her face speaking from the flat screens as the team watched.

Tony froze the screen. "It's always the same, if any cameras catch sight of her, it's always blurry and indistinct. It has to be deliberate..."

"Setting her up to eventually take the fall?" Steve wondered.

Tony nodded soberly. "Looks that way. It's not looking like HYDRA's planning on keeping her long-term. This is their big move."

Bruce cleared his throat, obviously already regretting what he was about to say. "Okay, say we manage to find Levi, and recover her... the government is going to want their pound of flesh, someone to punish for this."

"So, either HYDRA disposes of her, or our own country will." The bitterness in Steve's voice was startling.

"But nobody's been identified yet," Tony continued. "I've had FRIDAY monitoring _everything_, and Lev hasn't been identified, no one can even say with confidence yet whether the 'solitary figure' is male or female. CNN dedicated a three-hour spot to a panel of experts debating that and they still couldn't decide. If we can keep that secret, we can recover her."

"So..." Steve cut in, an edge of hope in his voice, "if we get Lev before HYDRA deserts her, and before anyone figures out it's her, we might be able to-"

Bucky suddenly leap to his feet and, without another word, stormed from the room. Silence followed him, and the team glanced uncertainly at each other. Bucky had been a volatile powder keg ever since Lev's abduction, but with the mounting evidence of the evil HYDRA was forcing her to commit, he'd become downright mercurial, swinging crazily from wild anguish and sorrow to near murderous rage and anger. The walls shook as he slammed the door behind him and a muffled roar of frustrated rage drifted back to their ears.

Steve stood slowly. "Give me a few minutes. We need to discuss this as a team."

Tony nodded soberly, looking back down at his tablet. "FRIDAY? Anything new?" He asked the AI as Steve left the room.

It wasn't hard to follow him. Even without Steve's enhanced hearing Bucky was in no way attempting to be quiet. Dull thuds and booms filled the air, Bucky seemed to be randomly slamming his fists into the walls as he raged down the corridors, and Steve could hear the occasional growl or snarl.

"Buck! Stop!" Steve moved into a jog and, turning a corner, found Bucky leaning heavily against the wall, chest heaving. His knuckles were bloody, fists flexing. "I know it's hard Buck, but we've gotta make a plan, if we can find a way to recover Levi-"

"And what, punk?" Bucky barked. "Bring her back here and try to put her back together? Then what, she figures out she's responsible for almost a thousand deaths and we have to watch her go through that?"

"What other option is there?" Steve's voice rose with incredulity. "You're giving up?"

"No." All the ire and rage were gone from Bucky's voice, and only bone-deep misery remained, he sagged further against the wall, bowing with anguish. "But I'd rather she was dead then have to live with that on her conscience. It'll break her."

Steve fell into stunned silence, his baffled retort dying on his tongue. They'd all been so consumed with trying to rescue Lev, they'd failed to consider whether she'd want to be saved once she realized what she'd done.

"HYDRA knows they only have this one shot with her," Bucky continued. "They're going for it all; even if Lev lives, they've destroyed her." The anguish in Bucky's voice was thick, and tears glimmered on his cheeks. "I'd rather lose her, have her die and leave me here alone than see her try to live with that in her mind. She doesn't deserve that burden, she never did."

"No." Steve cut in bitterly, hitting his fist against the wall as he leaned heavily against it, across the corridor from Bucky. "No. You came back from that, she will too."

Bucky lifted his head, and the bleak expression in his eyes broke Steve's heart. "You have no idea what I live with... every day. I'm willing to sacrifice my happy ending if it saves her from this." His hand drifted to his chest, curled against his heart and he shuddered, exhaling heavily.

Steve was momentarily unable to speak,_ what do you say to that?_ Bucky was willing to lose Lev, let go of his soulmate to spare her this pain, what greater sacrifice was there for love?

"Buck, I..." he trailed off. "Lev deserves the chance to decide that for herself."

Bucky winced, his thoughts clear on his face. And then what? Lev decides she can't live with this weight, and he has to deal with her leaving, disappearing somewhere? Or worse, her suicide? Finding her, cold and gone, already past the mortal coils where he can't follow, clutching her lifeless body to his chest as he broke down completely? Suddenly, his knees gave out and Bucky collapsed to the floor, sitting heavily, dropping his head forward into his hands.

Steve hesitated, the anguish around Bucky was thick, suffocating, then he stepped forward and slid down the wall to sit beside him.

"We have to try."

The alarm went off suddenly, startling Bucky out of a fevered nightmare; he lay there a moment, just panting, trying to collect his thoughts but then FRIDAY was speaking, voice booming.

"All team members report to briefing room immediately!"

Still trembling, more on a soldier's autopilot right now than anything else, Bucky rolled out, snagging a t-shirt and pulling it on as he left the room, barefoot, jogging towards the stairs. As he hit the right floor he broke into a sprint, meeting Steve approaching from the other way. The confusion on the blonde's face said he had no idea what was going on either; but Bucky felt a suffocating dread. This was about Levi, had she been identified? Captured?

Tony didn't even wait for everyone to sit before he was speaking. "We got a lead, it's not much, but it's something."

"On Lev?" Nat gasped.

"Like I said, it's not much, but I'm taking it... sit down." He flapped his hands at the team where they'd frozen in shock at his declaration and they shuffled quickly to chairs.

The screens filled with a barrage of images. "There is strong reason to believe that the secret location of the President's family has been leaked inadvertently. Obviously, Madame Pres isn't taking any chances and is arranging a rush transfer for the first husband and her kids. Based on the evolution of the attacks, I believe that Lev is going to target them next. This gives us a chance to intercept. I know, it's not much, but it's a strong possibility and I think we need to move on it."

"With the President's family as bait?" Bruce asked incredulously.

"When you put it that way, it sounds bad," Tony grumbled. "But yeah."

"Where are they now?" Steve asked, all business.

"We only have the coordinates," Tony answered, and a location appeared on the screens.

"It looks like a warehouse district, in any random city."

"It's Philly, but yeah. They were going for random and unexpected."

"Okay, and where do we come in?" Clint asked, studying the image, rubbing his chin with his hand.

"Half of the President's advisors want a full armored guard escort, basically a lineup of tanks to lumber the family out of there, and the other half wants an above top-secret in and out. I think they need both, one as the red herring, the other real."

"And we watch both, ready for Lev to attack either way?"

"If she's even going to be sent out for this." Bucky spoke for the first time. "This might be a wild goose chase."

"Maybe," Tony agreed, surprisingly amiable. "But it's the only lead we have, and there isn't much else HYDRA can do at this point. If they succeed and take out the first family, it pretty much guarantees they win, the President will either break down, or knee-jerk retaliate, and either way, the pricks will be ready. I get the strong feeling this is what they been building to the whole time. Take away everything until the President has nothing left to lose."

"So, we're going rogue then," Steve replied, his voice rising as he began to agree more and more with the decision. "We don't report, we don't let anyone know; that way, if there is a mole in the government, they can't alert HYDRA."

"It was a software fail, not a mole."

"I'm not taking that chance, from now on, we assume sabotage."

The team fell uneasily silent. HYDRA had infiltrated the highest levels of government before, had they again?

"We need a plan, and I have to talk with the President, we need to secure Lev's safety if we're successful." Tony's voice broke in. "Whatever we decide, the family is being extracted within the hour."

"Divide in two, one team per extraction... and prepare for war." Steve replied.

Bucky shifted his weight, grip tightening on his rifle. Nearby, Steve eyed him warily. Two stories below, at ground level, a non-descript SUV idled. An old coal transport tunnel linked the nearby warehouse with another one across the block, and the first family was due to emerge from the inky depths of the underground any second, then creep through the abandoned building to the door before scrambling carefully into the vehicle. Six blocks away, a full armored escort rumbled, flanked by innumerable police and secret service.

The red herring, the decoy.

Despite the team's reluctance, the President and her advisors had chosen this. Tony and Steve wanted the family to be protected by the armored transports, knowing HYDRA was both skilled and cynical enough to suspect a decoy, and would be searching for the real hand-off, but they'd lost. The best they could do now was watch and wait, do their best to help. Maybe, just maybe Lev would be set loose on the tanks. It was a long shot, HYDRA was smart, and they could have sniffed out this trap already, but maybe not; maybe, for once, luck would be on their side.

Half the team watched the tanks, the other half waited within comm distance of Steve and Bucky. Tony led the other team, managing to look grim even with his full suit on.

Tension radiated off Bucky like body heat, and his jaw was clenched so hard Steve worried he'd shatter his teeth. Bucky was way too off balance to be here, but there was no other choice. Other than completely incapacitating the former assassin, there was no way to keep him away. His complete and sole focus was finding and recovering Lev.

A hastily made agreement was in place. Without identifying Lev as the attacker, Tony had negotiated with the President, asking for and receiving her promise that if the team kept her family safe, the President would allow them to do with Lev what they wished. In other words, the team would deal with the fist of the attacker, while the government would turn and go for the head, attacking HYDRA with everything they had while the Avengers kept the organization's most dangerous weapon subdued. It was a shaky agreement, and would dissolve if anything bad happened to the first family; but the President was aware of HYDRA's mind-control experiments, realizing this was again the case and was willing to let the weapon go for the bigger picture. Just how Tony had managed this, what it had cost him, Steve didn't know, but there was no time to ask.

The door at ground level opened, and a wary head poked out, scanning back and forth down the deserted alley.

Steve tensed, heart beginning to hammer in his chest, if something was going to happen, if Lev had guessed their decoy, it would happen now.

Movement, in the shadows of a nearby roof; without his enhanced senses, Steve would have missed it. The way Bucky's breath hitched told Steve he'd seen it too. Swallowing hard, he aimed his rifle. There was no way they would be able to get closer without Lev noticing, she needed to be disabled first.

Steve whispered into his comm, readying the team. Six blocks away all hell broke loose, HYDRA attacking the convoy and Steve realized with lurch that the final battle had begun.

The next few minutes seared forever in Steve's mind, both over in the blink of an eye and seeming to drag on forever.

The muffled sound of a silenced shot, Bucky suddenly sprinting towards Lev, silent and single-minded. Lev disappeared into the shadows and Steve followed his friend, adrenaline almost painfully pulsing through him.

The rest of the team descended on the first family and Steve heard the beginnings of a firefight, then all other sounds faded away. A scuffle drew his attention and he ripped around a corner on the roof, seven buildings over from where they started, shield up, not knowing what to expect.

Lev had Bucky down on the ground, a knife to his throat; he was frozen, paralyzed beneath her, eyes wide, his chest heaving, brushing against her shins as she crouched above him. Her eyes were hard, determined as they lifted to meet Steve's. Her gorgeous auburn mane had been shorn off, close to the scalp and, as her icy gaze met Steve's, he saw a fresh vertical scar bisecting her right eye, marring her once perfect visage. Dropping her gaze again, she pulled her arm, ready to slash across Bucky's throat, more than likely decapitate him with the force she was capable of and Steve did the only thing he could.

He had no idea if Lev was just so focused on hurting Bucky that she didn't notice, or if, in some subconscious way, she wanted to be stopped, but she didn't twist out of the way fast enough to evade the flying shield and it slammed into her skull with a dull thud, knocking her away from Bucky's prone body.

Steve caught the tang of fresh blood as he sprinted towards them and a shiver of dread hit him as he saw Bucky struggle to sit up, pressing a gloved hand to his throat, thick blood welling between his fingers; Lev may not have been able to deliver a killing blow, but she'd definitely injured him.

Bucky pushed aside Steve's fretting fingers and coughed, blood flecking his lips. "Help Lev," he gritted, teeth stained red.

"But-"

"Help her! Get her out of here, I'm fine!"

Steve was about to disagree when Nat appeared, breathless and disheveled. Her eyes snapped back and forth between her nearly unrecognizable sister, still sprawled unconscious, to Bucky, still coughing and choking, glaring daggers at Steve.

"He's right." Her voice was decisive. "Get Lev out of here, I've got Barnes."

Nodding tightly, Steve complied, scooping Lev's limp body into his arms and sprinting away.

The glass rattled worriedly in the frame and Steve looked up warily before glancing to his side. Bucky sat nearby, pale and withdrawn, a fresh bandage around his throat. Steve had managed to get Lev back to the quinjet and properly restrained before she woke back up, but she'd been raging ever since, deaf to everyone's pleas and, when she did actually verbally answer, snarling in guttural Russian.

They were back in the sub-basement of the Tower, in the same detention cell that Lev had first been placed in. Tony had been gone for hours, negotiating with the President, fulfilling whatever end of the bargain he'd struck on Lev's behalf. The first family had been whisked away to safety, but Steve was unsure if the team would be called back into action to help hunt down HYDRA, apparently an agent had been captured during the attack, and the President was, at this point, not above 'physical and psychological persuasion' to get him to talk.

Another bellow, the glass rattled again and Bruce looked up from his tablet, swallowing hard. "Her readings are off the charts, they've been chemically enhancing her."

It was easy to see, although Lev had been in amazing shape before her capture, Olympic athlete level, she had at least an extra twenty pounds of corded muscle on her now, and her movements, although still graceful, were jerky, almost feral.

"She's been pumped full of anabolic steroids." Bruce continued, tapping at the screen. "And, at this point, I can't rule out cognitive treatments to increase aggression."

"What do you mean by that?" Bucky demanded, nerves strung tight.

Bruce sighed heavily. "If I had to guess, she was restrained and made to watch unfiltered footage of carnage, like those chimps at the beginning of 28 Days Later; that, coupled with the steroids, has transformed her into..." he faltered, trying to find the right words.

"A She-Hulk." Bucky supplied, his voice raspy.

"Without the radiation, yes. And they re-integrated her previous training. She's a Winter Soldier again, 2.0."

"So, she's triggered by the same words again?"

Bruce nodded. "This is probably what they would have done to her before, if her cryo-stasis hadn't been compromised."

Lev appeared in front of the glass, eyes unnervingly finding the men. Although the glass was one-way only, and all Lev could see was her own mirrored image, she knew they were out there. She spat angrily in Russian, and Bucky winced.

"What did she say?" Steve asked, heart sinking; Bucky looked like he'd just had his heart torn out.

He took a deep, steadying breath and answered. "She said 'You are still my mission, Asset'."


	2. Chapter 2

Steve looked sharply at Bucky, forehead furrowed.

They were right back where they'd first started with Lev; the first time they'd rescued her from that abandoned base in Siberia. There was no trace of the woman they loved and cared for, the woman that owned Bucky's heart and soul.

Lev slammed the flat of her fist against the glass and her lips twisted into a sneer when the men on the other side jumped. With a sigh, there was no point of it anymore, not with Lev seemingly able to see through it, Bruce reached over and flicked the switch that changed the glass from one to two-way.

Lev's predatory gaze didn't waver, but her lips curled back from her teeth and she slowly ran her tongue along her canines as she assessed the men in front of her. After a moment, she turned her head and spoke a rapid-fire burst of Russian at Steve; he looked to Bucky for a translation.

Bucky sighed, rubbing the side of his hand roughly across his mouth. "She said, 'it's good to see you again, Captain. It's been a long time.' She's -"

He was interrupted by Levi's sudden laugh, a twisted, sardonic bark. Once more she hit the glass, the flat of her hands this time, and pushed away from the surface, storming away and sitting silently in a corner, folding surprisingly gracefully into a cross-legged position. Her eyes closed and her face relaxed, as if she were meditating.

"What the fuck do we do now?" Bruce muttered.

Five more hours passed before Tony returned to the Tower. He looked like hell when Steve, Bucky and Bruce met him in the main briefing room, his voice raspy when he asked for a report on Lev's condition, wincing when he learned the extent of her problems.

"Jesus," he mumbled.

"What about the agreement? Is Lev clear?" Bucky asked, fists clenched in anxiety.

"They want to question her-"

"No. Not gonna happen." Bucky snapped.

Steve leaned forward to diffuse Bucky's growl. "She's not going to say anything... Tony, she's just like before, closed off, pure HYDRA. They'd have better luck getting blood from a stone."

"Yeah, and like I said, they went further this time; chemically enhanced her, cognitive subversion. She's like a Rage infected 'roid freak."

Bucky snarled furiously at Bruce, slamming his metal fist on the table. "Fuck off Green Giant-"

Steve slashed through the air in front of both men with his hand. "Stop it!" Returning his attention to Tony he spoke again, his voice resigned. "It's pointless, if she says anything, it'll be a lie, a game. And either way, she's not in the right frame of mind for what could be taken as a criminal interrogation. How secure is your agreement that she won't be held responsible for any of this?"

Tony shrugged. "If their attempts to destroy HYDRA are successful, then pretty secure; but if they need a scapegoat..." he trailed off uncertainly.

"They can't prosecute her! She's a victim-" Bucky began, eyes widening in shock.

"And the country will want retribution. Someone's head will roll for this, and if they can't get the ringmasters from HYDRA, they'll want Lev's." Tony replied, sounding exhausted.

"So much for your fucking negotiations! They're going to destroy my girl like a fucking dog because you couldn't-"

Steve slammed his fists on the table and both Tony and Bucky, who'd been leaning towards each other, readying to attack, pushed guardedly backwards, eyeing each other warily.

Steve took a deep breath. "Tony, I thought we had assurance that Lev would be protected?"

Tony shrugged, earning a warning growl from the scowling brunette across the table from him. "She was willing to agree to pretty much anything at the time, but she's much more calculating about it now."

"She can't do that!" Bucky snapped.

"She's the President, yes she can." Tony sounded so tired.

"You can't let her!"

"How, Tin Man? Start up some kind of Waco stand-off if they come for her?"

"Lev is an Avenger! She's loyal to you!"

"Until HYDRA started stirring up her brains-"

"FUCK YOU!" Bucky roared, launching himself across the briefing table. Only Steve's lightning fast reflexes saved Tony from the full brunt of Bucky's attack, and the two serum-enhanced men crashed to the floor in a tangle of thrashing limbs and bellows of rage, Steve's voice rising in desperation as he tried to calm his friend.

Tony had the sense to shut up and stumbled back from his chair, bracing himself against the wall, watching the wild scrabble at his feet. Bucky's eyes flashed murder when they caught his.

"This! Isn't! Helping!" Steve shouted, struggling with all his strength to restrain Bucky, his nose trickled blood from a well-placed fist and his heart hammered in his chest. This might be it, when Bucky finally snapped and killed Tony Stark.

"Stop it!" Steve screamed directly in Bucky's ear. "Think of Lev! Don't make this worse!"

Bucky instantly went slack in Steve's desperate grip, his eyes nearly black with heartache and sorrow. His chest heaved with exertion and emotion, his jaw clenched. He pushed Steve away suddenly, with surprising strength and stood, Steve clamoring to restrain him again.

"I _am_ thinking of Lev." Bucky retorted, his deep voice tremulous. "I won't let you sell her out. You try, and I'll kill you."

His promise hanging heavy in the air, Bucky turned and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Steve turned back to Tony, panting for breath and scowled.

Tony had the grace to look sheepish.

Although it hurt, like razors across his skin, like a lashing across his back (something HYDRA had done more than once in his seventy years at the Winter Soldier), Bucky was drawn again to the sub-basement.

Lev was pacing again, stripped down to a muscle shirt and sweats that had been left for her on the cot. The changes her body had undergone were sickeningly obvious without her armor and combat gear. There was almost zero fat on her body, only corded, hard muscle, the type that is built through harsh, painful training, pushing past your boundaries constantly, tearing and reforming tissue constantly. Her knuckles were bloodied and scabbed and fresh scars littered her visible skin.

Gone was any trace of her gentle femininity, her tempest-in-a-teapot elegance, a lethal ballerina; the certainty that, although she looked like a Victoria's Secret Angel, she could and would kick your ass and you'd_ still_ like it. Left was brutal violence, rage and savagery. Her hands no longer looked capable of the feather-soft caresses that always set Bucky's heart alight, prompting a bone-deep relaxation and contentment like he'd never felt before; instead they looked ready to tear and ravage, break bones as easily as it was breaking Bucky's heart to see her like this.

His Levi was gone.

Could she be found again?

"**Asset."**

Bucky startled out of his thoughts, locking eyes with her. She'd stopped pacing and was now crowding the glass again, seemingly larger, as if her rage was making her grow. Gone was the gentle amethyst glow, the faint teasing lift at the corners of her full lips. Her jaw and cheekbones looked razor sharp, ready to cut and draw blood.

"**I'm not the Asset anymore."** He answered.

"**You can't escape it."**

"**I did."**

"**Did you?" **The words were flat, mocking.

"**Yes, and you will too."**

Levi threw her head back and roared, a derisive, sneering sound so unlike her normally harmonious laugh. Dropping her head again she fixed Bucky with such a cold, heartless look that his blood froze; he'd never felt such desolation, not even as the Winter Soldier; Lev's very soul was barren and bleak, devastated, a wasteland.

"**Tell yourself another fairytale, Asset."**

Bucky turned quickly away, fighting sudden tears. This was a mistake, he was too vulnerable, weakened too much by his love for Lev to be able to handle this change, this monster wearing her skin.

"**She fought it... for you."**

Bucky couldn't stop a shudder; every nerve ending screamed to run from the room, but his feet wouldn't move, he crossed trembling arms across his massive chest, heart hammering a shaken tattoo.

Lev continued conversationally, speaking in ghoulish third-person. **"She screamed your name, twisted and fought the restraints; even when the agents were holding her down and **_**savaging **_**her... she screamed for you."**

"**SHUT UP!" **Bucky roared, whirling back, fists clenched, chest heaving.

Lev laughed again, reptilian cunning in her eyes. **"She screamed so sweetly, I love the sound of pain-"**

Bucky launched himself at the glass, slamming against it with an inarticulate scream of mixed rage and anguish. Somehow, through the red haze, Bucky saw glittering triumph in Lev's eyes and he staggered back, shaking. This was exactly what HYDRA wanted, they'd corrupted her in every way they could, morphing her body into a killer, and her mind into a remorseless sociopath.

"**Bucky! Bucky, save me!"** Her voice, rough and harsh, mocked in a gruesome falsetto, shredding the words and the remaining pieces of Bucky's heart.

Bucky screamed in wordless agony, clawing at his face, his mind treating him to an unfiltered, horrific vision; Lev screaming, tears streaking down her bleeding face, eyes wild and rolling, blood-stained teeth bared in a keening wail of anguish and misery, fighting with every remaining ounce of her strength to resist the HYDRA agents swarming her, the wild fear, because she knew what was coming... again, as they flipped the switch on the memory suppressor another time, her body convulsing in agony as the last traces of her former life were torn from her mind-

Arms banded around him suddenly and dragged him away. Sound broke through to him again, and he realized that Steve was here, Steve was pulling him away, shouting in his ear.

"Bucky! BUCK! CALM DOWN!"

Bucky went limp, beyond exhausted and Steve dragged him from the room, Lev's maniacal laughter ripping at the tattered remains of his sanity. With a grunt Steve slammed the heavy doors shut then turned back, catching Bucky as he staggered, before he fell.

"She's gone, Steve," Bucky broke down, clawing at his friend's shoulders, body shaking. "She's gone, they took her and turned her into that _thing_-" his voice cracked and he couldn't finish, dropping his exhausted head to Steve's shoulder, his body trembling with mingled exhaustion and anguish. His vision swirled grey, then black.

A headache pounded behind his eyes as Bucky hesitantly, reluctantly opened them. It was quiet, and his muddled mind was slow to recognize his own quarters, the soft feel of the duvet beneath him, Lev's favorite, the one he'd clung to since her capture, cried into each night as he desperately breathed in her fading scent.

His eyes drifted shut again, unable to hold them open. He was so exhausted, both physically and mentally, bone weary and sick to death. The... creature they'd recaptured from HYDRA was beyond horrific, a sadistic monster who wanted to watch the world burn. It was such a polar opposite from the gentle soul that he loved; the beautiful, both inside and out, woman that he was soul-mated to.

Could Lev come back from this? This was much worse, worlds apart from the first time. Then, they'd rescued a broken girl, now, they'd retrieved a soulless killer, a remorseless demon. Tears squeezed out from under his lids and trickled down his temples.

His head turned, wincing, eyes reluctantly opening, when someone cleared their throat beside him.

"Steve," he rasped, throat dry.

Steve nodded absently. His bottom lip was swollen and red, like he'd been chewing and worrying at it constantly. He took a deep breath. "What was she saying to you?"

Bucky exhaled tremulously as her words came screaming back to him, all the hateful venom fresh. "She uh... she said Lev fought," his voice broke, despite his efforts. "Fought for me, screamed my name as the agents held her down-" he couldn't finish and looked away.

"She was using third-person? Like her and Lev are completely different people?" Steve sounded perplexed and he rubbed his jaw distractedly, the stubble rasping.

"Yeah," Bucky looked upwards, blinking, trying to keep fresh tears from falling. "Lev's not in there, Steve. It's a totally different person, a monster wearing her skin."

Steve sighed, an exhausted exhale and rubbed roughly at his eyes. "What can we do?"

Bucky shrugged. "Maybe Shuri can help again? Get that HYDRA poison out of her mind? We'd still have the physical problems, but maybe... maybe Levi is still in there."

Steve picked at his jeans, worrying at a small hole. "They still want to question her, but it's looking like they've gotten some good intel from that captured agent, God knows what they did to get it."

"So, that bitch will keep her end of the bargain? I'd have let her family burn if I'd known she was going to go back on her word like that."

"No, you wouldn't." Steve replied tiredly.

_No, probably not..._ "I doubt they'll get much, she either forgotten it or just refuses to use English, they'll need a translator."

Steve grimaced, eyeing Bucky sheepishly.

"Me." Bucky grumbled. The last place he wanted to be right now was back with Lev, translating her answers and listening to the full extent of his love's corruption.

"Nat is... Jesus, Buck, she won't even leave her quarters, if it wasn't for Clint she wouldn't even eat."

Bucky nodded absently, while he'd been in absolute hell these past months, Nat had been right beside him and, more than once, Clint had been the only thing standing between her and utter destruction. She'd emerged from her self-imposed hell for the recovery mission, but the shape Lev had been in when they'd rescued her had sent her scurrying right back. "When do they want to talk to her?"

"Soon. Go eat something jerk, you look like hell."

"Pot, meet kettle." Bucky grunted.

_This is going nowhere,_ Bucky thought to himself, biting back a snarl as the same question was asked again. The President had the decency to look unnerved, but the agent that had accompanied her to do the actual interrogation was ice-cold.

"Please explain where you were during the Embassy bombing in Moscow." The agent asked, _again_.

Bucky exhaled, doing his best to hide his exasperation and translated the agent's exact words to Lev, who was lounging against the glass, thoroughly enjoying herself.

Lev smirked covertly, in a 'we have a secret' way at Bucky then began speaking earnestly and enthusiastically in flawless Russian.

Bucky listened, forcing himself to keep a straight face. **" You expect me to tell them that?"** He asked flatly.

Lev laughed heartedly and nodded, eyes dancing with amusement.

"**I can't say that."**

"**Do it Asset, translate for me."**

Bucky glared daggers at her, she was putting him in an awkward position, as she had been for the last half-hour, with her increasingly ridiculous and mocking answers.

"What did it say?" The agent asked sharply, he couldn't even be bothered to address Lev as a human.

Bucky sighed, glaring balefully at Lev one final time. "She said 'frolicking in a meadow, singing 'The Sound of Music'.

The President huffed and the agent's face went an interesting shade of puce.

"She really said that?" The agent snapped.

"You think I would make it up?"

"Covering for your girlfriend? Yes, I do."

Steve intervened smoothly, stepping in front of Bucky while Tony intervened with the agent.

"We explained at the beginning that we believed she would be unhelpful. If you don't believe Sargeant Barnes, you're welcome to bring in another translator, but HYDRA has corrupted both her body and mind; it's as useless to interrogate her as it is to hold her responsible for HYDRA's actions. She is a victim, just like-"

"DO NOT compare that... creature to the innocent people that were killed or wounded or just _flat out disappeared." _The President commanded, eyes flashing.

Tony nodded crisply. "Alright, but she is not responsible; you agreed to that and we upheld our end of the bargain, your family is safe."

The President flinched ever so slightly, her gaze moving abruptly to Steve and Bucky. Bucky was waiting tensely, trying to control his breathing, while Steve stood beside him, his hand on his shoulder, trying to calm his volatile friend.

"Fine." The President agreed abruptly. She glared disdainfully at Lev, who grinned merrily back. "I am bound by my word, and I cannot afford to have you, Mr. Stark, or the Avengers as enemies; I will need your help to crush the remnants of HYDRA. Do what you can with her, rehabilitate her but rest assured we will be monitoring her progress. If you fail to restore her to her former self and remove this... dangerous corruption, then we will have to intervene."

"And do what?" Bucky growled.

The agent answered, a faint glimmer in his eyes. "Rabid animals are usually destroyed, Sargeant."

Steve tightened his hand on Bucky's shoulder in warning and it took all of Bucky's considerable restraint to not react.

"I'll escort you out." Tony said, his tone professional, gesturing with his arm. The President nodded to her agent then turned to follow Tony.

"The hills are aaallliivvveee-" Lev purred, too low for anyone but Steve and Bucky to hear. The men waited until the metal doors had shut before turning angrily towards her.

"Lev? What the hell was that?" Steve demanded. "It's obvious you can still speak English."

"Calm yourself, comrade." Lev replied scathingly. Her reptilian eyes flicked to Bucky. **"I made the Captain swear, my love."**

Bucky flinched. Lev's voice was scathing, acerbic, mocking. Her pet name slashed at his soul with rusty claws, tearing deep and the twitch of her lips said she knew exactly how badly it had hurt.

Taking a large step backwards, Lev braced her feet shoulder-width apart and crossed her arms over her chest. The teasing glint in her eyes died instantly, her violet eyes going cold and dark.

"**Take your sniveling elsewhere, you shame our masters."**

Breathing hard, Bucky just stared at Lev for a long moment, unable to reconcile this... monster with his Lev; in a way, this side of her was worse than the raging beast, this showed cruel intelligence, a psychopathic streak of callous, sadistic evil.

Bucky turned and fled, fighting to control his racing heart.


	3. Chapter 3

**_A/N: I haven't had any feedback on this story yet. What do you think?_**

* * *

"**Take your sniveling elsewhere, you shame our masters."**

Breathing hard, Bucky just stared at Lev for a long moment, unable to reconcile this... monster with his Lev; in a way, this side of her was worse than the raging beast, this showed cruel intelligence, a psychopathic streak of callous, sadistic evil.

Bucky turned and fled, fighting to control his racing heart.

Steve found him later, sitting silently in the common room, the TV playing, but Bucky's mind a million miles away. With a sigh the blond man sat beside him, leaning back into the couch.

"I talked to Shuri, she apologizes for not seeing my message sooner, her research's taking off, she said she hardly has the time to sleep anymore." He paused, but Bucky remained silent.

"She said she'd do all she could to help, would drop everything to devote her full time to this."

Bucky finally managed a half-hearted smile, the edges stained with heartache.

"We can go anytime you're ready... if you're coming with us?"

Bucky exhaled, finally turning his haunted gaze to Steve. "I... I don't know. I mean... this is Lev, but it's not. She's so... cruel, and she knows exactly what to say to cut me the deepest. I want to be there for her but... it hurts so bad."

Steve nodded silently then exhaled loudly, rubbing at his scalp. "I understand Buck, whichever you decide, I understand. We'll be flying out as soon as we can figure out the best way to subdue Lev. I mean, right now, you can't trust her, we have to restrain her."

Bucky nodded. "I wouldn't trust her either right now"

"Bruce is thinking a concentrated dose of sedation fog through the vents, it'll have to be a hell of a dose and it won't work for very long, but it'll give us time to restrain her... we might even need the collar." He shuddered.

The collar was an invention of Tony's that he kept locked behind many doors. It was a last resort type of deal, a metal collar that delivered an incapacitating electric shock if the wearer violated the preset limits. Most anything could be input by way of restriction and limitation, but the easiest and most effective was motion detection. If the wearer moved too much, past a certain number of degrees, the collar shocked, anything from the barest tickle to a lethal level. Tony had considered 'uninventing' the collar at one point, but it unfortunately had come in handy a few times for detainees who couldn't be reasoned with any other way.

The thought of using it on Lev was agonizing, but it was going to be necessary; this wasn't Lev they were dealing with right now, they had to remember that.

Steve's phone beeped suddenly, a caustic, grinding tone that instantly set Bucky's nerves on edge. Steve grimaced as he hurried to silence it, his face growing grave as he read the message. Bucky felt the beginnings of anxiety start to pierce his miserable bubble.

"The President's launching one last all-out attack on HYDRA, she's requesting the Avenger's participation."

"I can't-"

"No Buck, not you. Everyone else." Steve cut a quick, knowing glance at him. "She doesn't trust you either, it seems."

A curious mix of relief and disappointment filled Bucky, he'd come back from being the Winter Soldier, he'd fought as an Avenger for this goddamn country, and now suddenly he wasn't to be trusted?

"It's just the timing, man." Steve continued. "She's sore with the attacks and Lev's performance back there, this is our chance to crush those pricks once and for all, and it frees you up to take Lev to Shuri; it wouldn't hurt for you to spend some time decompressing in Wakanda either."

Bucky was about to protest, but Steve continued, correctly interpreting Bucky's reluctance and seeking to head it off. "I know it's far from ideal, but there's no one else. We have to respond to this request, 'cause you and both know it's anything _but_ a friendly invitation. If we succeed, it will secure Lev's safety from prosecution-"

"But, if Shuri can't reverse it, remember that fucktard agent said-"

"It will. Shuri helped her once, she'll do it again. I'm sorry it has to be you taking her there, but maybe it's for the best, you'll be right there when the real Lev wakes up."

"_If_ the real Levi wakes up." Bucky couldn't stop his voice from breaking.

"Shit Buck," Steve murmured. "We can't think like that."

Bucky flexed his hands, regripped the controls with a grimace. He'd been holding onto them so hard his joints popped and protested angrily.

Lev's sedation and capture had been far from pretty. When the sedation fog had first been pumped in; they'd decided, somewhat reluctantly to not ask Lev first if she would be willing to just cooperate, it wasn't worth the potential trouble of giving her a heads-up of what they were planning; she'd fought with an almost desperate edge, as if this were bringing back horrible memories. She'd gasped and struggled, flipping back and forth between vicious, indignant rage at being tricked, and desperate, pleading panic, clawing wilding at her throat as she choked and gasped.

Bucky'd had to turn away before he'd snapped and ripped the door open to pull Lev free, instinctively rescue her and soothe her, take away the agony making her scream. As she'd finally slowed in her struggles, as the sedation took effect, he'd turned back as she'd convulsively twisted to face the glass, and the look of _betrayal_ in her eyes had cut him to the quick.

She'd already been stirring by the time they'd secured her restraints; specialized lightweight chains rated to withstand even the Hulk's strength and the snap of the collar had woken her up completely. Murder in her eyes, she'd leapt to attack, heedless of the restraints, only to go rigid with a strangled scream as the collar shocked her for moving too far. She'd tried again, snarling like a rabid dog, only to be stopped again. The collar was set to deliver a stronger shock with every additional violation, had already been set to a punishing level, and the second hit actually knocked her semi-conscious for a few seconds.

Bucky was half-hysterical by the time they'd loaded her into the quinjet and the take-off had been delayed for a few extra minutes while Steve calmed him back down.

Then the team had departed, leaving reluctantly to attack HYDRA and Bucky had been alone with Lev in the quinjet. He was the first to admit that this was a bad idea, but there were precious few options available to them. HYDRA needed to be stopped, and this was looking like the best and only chance.

Lev had been silent so far, alternating between glaring daggers at Bucky's back and wracking her brains for a way to escape. She was loathed to admit that she was indeed trapped, the chains unbreakable and, even if she managed to slip them, the collar was another matter entirely. She'd tested it a third time during take-off, when Bucky had been distracted, and the pain had been enough to convince her to stop. Her best chance was waiting, until when they were off-loading her. Maybe everyone would be incompetent, she'd never heard of this _Wakanda_ before, but she could hope they weren't fully prepared for what she was capable of delivering.

Bucky glanced in his mirror, catching sight of Lev staring at him unblinkingly and he looked forward again, unnerved. There was no trace of his Lev in those cold, reptilian eyes. Calculating, cunning eyes that slashed deep down into your very soul and pried loose your deepest fears and secrets.

"**Where are we going, Asset?" **It was the first time she'd spoken since they'd taken off.

"**To someone who can help you."**

"**No one can help me." **There was an edge to Lev's voice and Bucky had to clamp down hard on the sudden impulse to flip the auto-pilot switch and scramble back to Lev's side, pull her to him and comfort her, soothe away the desolation he'd heard in her stark declaration. He flinched involuntarily, this could be... probably was a trick, an attempt to lure Bucky towards her, soften him and distract him further than he already was, capitalize on it in some way. He wouldn't put it past her right now to simply try to incapacitate or hurt him somehow, then let the quinjet drift until it could no longer, and they crashed to their death. It was a morbid, cynical thought, but this was HYDRA at their worst, or best, depending on your viewpoint.

"**HYDRA succeeded this time. Your woman is gone. I am all that remains."**

Bucky flinched again, harder this time. _No, it can't be true, she's just messing with you again._

"**It hurt, I remember that," **she continued, stubbornly, or perhaps, calculatingly, keeping to Russian despite revealing earlier that she still was capable of English. **"The pain was something she'd never felt before, torment without end. But, when the agents all decided to take a turn with her, soon she was moaning like a whore-"**

"**SHUT UP!"** Bucky screamed, the jet jolting as he ripped at the controls. Lev, although secured to a bulk-head, was jerked to the side and went rigid with a screech as the collar activated again. Eyes half-open but unseeing, her unconscious body fell back against the side of the jet and her verbal torture fell silent.

Bucky panted, tears streaming down his cheeks, crying hysterically, only through sheer will did he keep the jet from barrel-rolling while he half-convulsed with agony in the seat, hands gripping the controls hard enough to bite into his flesh and draw blood. He'd hadn't intended to throw Lev around like that, hadn't been thinking of using the collar's restrictions to his advantage, had only been reacting to her horrible words and the anguish they filled him with, but it had worked. The monster in Lev's skin had fallen silent, at least for now, and Bucky could try to regain his sanity.

He trembled as her words replayed in his head, '_**when the agents all decided to take a turn'**_and he dry-heaved, shuddering. _God, baby. What did they do to you?" _

Lev remained silent throughout the rest of the flight, but she watched Bucky the whole time, a sick little smile on her face as she saw the unending trickle of tears on his pale face.

Shuri, T'Challa and Okoye were waiting as Bucky guided the jet down and he took a deep breath, knowing the royal siblings and their beautifully dangerous head of the Dora Milaje would be able to see right through any façade he could try to put up. He'd spent time with all of them recovering from his own HYDRA indoctrination and again later, the first time Lev had been here and they'd become friends. He trusted Shuri completely, but he wasn't ready for T'Challa's frighteningly accurate observations, his quiet, wise words. Hopefully Okoye, silent and deeply intelligent, would stay silent.

Without meeting Lev's eyes Bucky walked past her and down the ramp, wanting to speak to their hosts out of her range. All three Wakandians were more than capable of handling themselves, and could easily handle anything Lev could currently dish out physically, restrained as she was, but her mouth and cruel cunning were a different matter entirely.

Mingled sympathy and shock flashed in the royal sibling's eyes as they took in Bucky's appearance before pulling him into tight embraces. Okoye nodded to him, gifting him with the tiniest encouraging smile.

"I will not ask how you are feeling; your face and eyes are answer enough" T'Challa rumbled quietly.

Bucky nodded in appreciation then took a deep, steadying breath. "Like we've already said, HYDRA has completely corrupted her, worse than before." He glanced at Shuri, who frowned in concern. "But there's more, she's... cruel, she's going out of her way to... say things, it's like she's trying to..." he broke off, looking away for a minute before gathering the strength to finish his sentence. "It's like her only goal is to drive me crazy with reminders of how much she suffered, how badly I failed her."

T'Challa nodded in grim understanding. "Psychological, go for your basest, most primal emotions; protection and care of your mate. Cruel indeed." He reached suddenly, planting a strong hand on Bucky's shoulder. "You did not fail her."

Bucky inhaled sharply and looked away, blinking rapidly. Giving him a moment, T'Challa glanced to his sister. "You will still be able to help?"

Shuri frowned thoughtfully for a moment. "I can't say for sure without going inside her mind, it will certainly take longer though."

T'Challa nodded. "Take all the time you need," he looked back towards Bucky. "You need to rest as well, for as long as this will take. Your previous quarters are waiting for you."

Bucky hesitated, the thought of familiar surroundings, the quiet peace that permeated the air here was a siren song to his raw nerves; but he needed to help contain Lev first, if only to be the target of her harsh words and save the Wakandians from the brunt of her malice.

T'Challa understood. "Let's get Levka settled first."

Bucky collapsed into the blankets with a pitiful groan. His body ached and throbbed, but that was nothing compared to the raw agony of his emotions.

Understanding what they intended, and not willing to cooperate in the slightest, Lev had been ruthless, realizing quickly that she was currently overwhelmed physically and instead going for Bucky's figurative throat. If she couldn't break away from the restraints, she could at least inflict this damage. She'd learned the spatial limits of the collar, keeping eerily still as the poison had spewed from her mouth; horrible descriptions of the agonies Lev endured as she fought to maintain her own mind and thoughts, the panic in her amethyst eyes as each successive round in the machine eroded her memories and personality more and more, the way she'd whimpered Bucky's name at the end, her eyes unfocused and hazy. There was no way Lev could know what she'd looked like at the time; HYDRA must have either described it or, more likely, shown her footage of her own torture and conversion when she was finally pliant and docile, all traces of Lev gone.

It had taken all of Bucky's strength to not flee, cover his ears and run away and only Okoye's threat of cutting out Lev's traitorous tongue finally silenced her, the warrior swinging her spear-head dangerously close to the corrupted woman who glared daggers in return, her violet, _violent _eyes promising retribution.

Fury had flared, white hot, in Lev's eyes as the cryo procedure began but, as the arctic cold air had swept up her straining body a different emotion took over and the final tattered remains of Bucky's heart bled anew as _Levi_ looked over at him with wide, panicked eyes. For the briefest second it was truly her, truly Levi, and she was terrified of the cold, the dark, the silence that she realized was coming. Her first cryofreeze at HYDRA's hands had been an abject failure, and the young Levi, known then as Nika, had spent four years in suspended hell, a purgatory that ruined her for any of HYDRA's eventual plans with her. She was reliving that terror now.

As the cold had curled further up her body, licking at her throat Lev had opened her mouth, and the word _please _had fallen from her lips, a desperate plea to Bucky to save her.

It had crushed what was left of his shattered heart and he'd been unable to listen as Shuri tried to explain what she was about to try, and T'Challa himself had escorted the broken man to his hut, watching with sad, sympathetic eyes as the former HYDRA assassin shuffled like an old man towards his blankets.

Giving into the threatening darkness, Bucky closed his eyes, rigid body sagging into the blankets and, for a long time, he knew no more.\

**I'd appreciate some feedback on this, please drop me a line.**


	4. Chapter 4

Giving into the threatening darkness, Bucky closed his eyes, rigid body sagging into the blankets and, for a long time, he knew no more.

Shuri glanced up as Bucky entered the room and smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. If front of her, frozen and unconscious, was Levi, face twisted in a final rictus of terror, her scar standing out a harsh purple against her pale skin. A large holographic display hovered in the air in front of the princess and she frowned at the intricate web before her, playing with her bottom lip.

Bucky had awakened not long ago, compelled to check Shuri's progress even though it twisted an agonizing knife through his heart to see Lev, especially with her ghastly final expression, her plea of '_please' _still fresh in his ears.

"Sleep well?" Shuri asked, concentrating on the image of Lev's mind and consciousness in front of her.

Bucky rubbed the back of his neck. "How long was I out?"

"Almost 2 days." Shuri flicked a look at him. "You obviously needed the rest."

There was no use denying it and, even if he did, Shuri was too smart to be fooled, and too good a friend. "It's been rough."

Shuri nodded, turning her eyes back to the display. She knew the whole story.

"It is deeper this time." Shuri murmured and Bucky moved closer to look. "The tendrils of influence, they're deeper and stronger. Parts of her brain have been altered, the impulse control centre shrunk, the area of aggression nurtured and grown. I read the full report from Dr. Banner. He believes they used cognitive subversion and I must agree."

"What does that mean?"

"If I had to guess, she was restrained and made to watch multiple images of violence and depravity, and pumped full of steroids and adrenaline at the same time, essentially rewiring her brain. I've read reports of this type of torture, it's quite effective, and devastating to the subject."

"Can you fix it?"

Shuri paused. "I don't know."

Bucky swallowed hard and moved to turn away to hide his sudden tears but Shuri gently rested her hand on his shoulder. "I will try my best."

Bucky nodded, not able to speak.

"Is it possible to obtain records of her treatment?" Shuri asked hesitantly, biting her bottom lip as Bucky turned back to look at her incredulously. "I have no desire to learn the degree of misery Levi suffered, but if I knew exactly how and _what_ they did, I may be more successful at reversing it."

It made sense but Bucky had no desire to read the reports himself, it would be his final undoing to know the details; the end result was enough to break his heart. "I'll see if Bruce or the team can get them."

"They are trying to take down HYDRA now?"

"Yes. When we recovered Lev, the government team managed to grab an agent too. I don't know what they did to him, but they seem to think his information's credible."

"Perhaps," Shuri offered tentatively. "If this results in HYDRA's fall, Lev's capture and corruption will have had _some_ value."

Bucky wiped at his eyes. "I'd rather have Lev whole and with me, even if it meant HYDRA was still out there."

Shuri nodded silently. After a moment her hand rested gently on Bucky's forearm, his skin hot, the muscles beneath rock-hard. "This will take time, go out and clear your head, Lev will need you when she wakes."

********************************************************************************************* The warm sun on his face was indeed relaxing and, as Bucky leaned back against the rock behind him, he did feel his mind beginning to clear. It hurt, the way your hand will ache if you've been gripping something hard for a long time then released it; his very _being_ hurt right now. Bucky hadn't felt this way in a long time, not since he'd first begun to reawaken and remember, relive the horrors HYDRA put him through and the lives he took.

Lev would be in similar agony... _if _she woke up. Shuri didn't sound very confident

_Maybe, even if they were taken down, HYDRA did win after all._

The tears came hot and sudden, feeling like blood as they streamed down his face. He'd given his entire heart and soul over to Lev, she _owned_ him, she had the power to break him. He should have stayed away, stayed unattached, preserved himself; not fallen so desperately in love; for what was life, except for suffering, at least for Bucky? He should have known_ this_ wasn't his life to have, fate would snatch it away sooner or later.

For a time, his anguish took hold, and the sun had moved across the sky before he was in control again, slumped back against the rock, weak with exertion and emotion.

He couldn't leave. No matter what happened. Even through the worst of his agony, when he could hardly draw breath between sobs, that thought had glowed bright in the back of his mind. Lev needed him, regardless of his pain, regardless of his regrets, Lev needed him to be there when she woke up. His words to Steve came back to him, how he'd wished Lev were dead to save her from the sorrow and pain that awaited her when she awoke, and he knew he hadn't truly meant them. He was too selfish, too attached, too _fused_ to Lev to separate. He would help her crawl through her hell, be there for her on the other side because that the only option. It was too painful to leave her.

A fresh ache started low in his abdomen. His body craved release, craved the warmth of Lev against him, the feel of him inside her. Once they'd begun being intimate, they'd never stopped. Both were serum-enhanced and insatiable, it was not unusual for one to take the hand of the other when they were home in the Tower, and tug them quietly to their quarters, ignoring the hooting and laughing of their teammates behind them, the teasing that 'this is the third time today!'. The first few days after a mission were always shot to hell, neither one emerging from their room except to grab food, then back inside. It made the others roll their eyes and tease Bucky and Lev about their 'sex den', but they couldn't help it; they were addicts, each other's favourite drug.

Yet, despite his anxious need, there would be no relief. Taking care of himself in the shower barely took the edge off and, even if he wasn't completely abhorred at the thought of being with another, his body failed to respond to anyone else but Levi.

Groaning, Bucky scrubbed his hands over his eyes, then pushed to his feet. He needed to exercise, go for a run, hard and fast, exhaust his body to try and temper his mind, then maybe he'd be strong enough to check on Lev again.

Shuri was indeed as good as her word to Steve, and had devoted her entire time to Lev, barely taking time out to rest or eat. She ignored both T'Challa and Bucky when they tried to pull her away, flapping her hand dismissively at them, stubbornly focusing on the display of Lev's brain. She'd ran infinite scenarios, trying to figure out the best way to untangle HYDRA's corruption, but so far, every simulation resulted in s_omething _vital to Lev's personality being stripped as well.

Shuri was getting frustrated. As one of the most brilliant people on the planet, she wasn't used to being unsuccessful at a task she was putting her full attentions to and that in turn made her even more stubborn.

At both royal sibling's urging, Bucky was reclaiming himself, taking time to decompress and relax, reflect and think on everything like he had when Shuri had first helped him, and later when Lev had been brought here as a scared, reflexively violent girl, damaged by HYDRA's mistakes and left to fade away and die in Siberia.

She'd awakened a woman, able to shrug off those chains and grow into a valuable member of the team. No one else, not even Bucky, could get Steve to laugh the way Lev could, no one else could tease the same delighted grin from Bucky or shut Sam down so effectively that even he enjoyed it.

Bucky missed her. He wanted her back.

There had been nothing but radio silence from the team so far, eight days of nothing. Even Bucky's relay 0f Shuri's request had been unanswered, and while this unnerved Bucky, he knew the team was too busy to drop a line. They needed to be successful this time; Bucky, Lev, the whole team couldn't continue on with the spectre of HYDRA still out there, waiting to swoop in and steal Lev or even him, away again; HYDRA needed to be put down like the rabid dog it was.

A loud rush in the sky grabbed his attention and Bucky looked up from the rodent family he'd been sitting with. He and Lev had sat out here often before, befriending the gerbil-like critters and the little buggers seemed to have remembered him, tentatively sniffing at his large fingers before allowing him to stroke their tiny backs, scurrying along his legs and up his shoulders to tug at his hair and sniff along his jaw.

With a jolt, Bucky recognized the quinjet as it hissed past and he stood, gently disentangling and setting down the little creatures before turning and sprinting back towards the palace. It had to be Steve, returning with word of the mission, hopefully with files that could help Shuri with Lev.

It was indeed the blond captain, talking with T'Challa when Bucky sprinted up, the sweat gleaming on his skin more from anxiety over what Steve was about to say then from the exertion of the run and stopped short when he saw his friend.

Steve looked like he'd been put through the ringer. Fading bruises and cuts marred his face and the tense way he held his shoulder spoke to an injury his enhanced body hadn't yet been able to heal fully. Regardless, upon seeing Bucky, Steve strode towards him and pulled his oldest friend into a crushing bear hug. Pulling away slightly, he slapped his hands onto Bucky's shoulders.

"We did it."

Bucky let out a breath he didn't realized he'd been holding. "HYDRA?"

"All but dead. We cut off the head, Buck. We did it. What's left is just crumbs."

Bucky's heart jolted painfully. This seemed like a dream. "Everyone okay?"

Now Steve's eyes darkened. "Mostly."

"Who?"

"Wanda, Sam... Clint. They're not dead but Bruce is going to be busy in the medical lab for a while. Tony got busted up pretty bad but his suit took most of the force, he's walking around like he just got in a car wreck, but at least he's walking. Nat's far from 100 % but her, Bruce and Tony are holding down the fort okay."

"What about the government guys?"

Steve winced. "Not so lucky. What's left of the teams are being organized to track and kill the last few HYDRA hold-outs."

"So... it's really over?"

Steve shrugged, looking exhausted. "I really hope so, but who knows? HYDRA was huge and they lasted so long _because _they were secret. But we definitely dealt them a critical blow." He jumped slightly, as if remembering something, and slapped his hands against his chest, resembling a man looking for his missing pack of smokes. Triumphantly, he dug into his front breast pocket and brandished a small thumb drive, holding it out towards the two men. Bucky backed away instinctively, having a pretty good idea what it was.

T'Challa reached out and accepted it.

"I got your request." Steve glanced at Bucky before looking back at the King. "That's what we found regarding Lev. I couldn't look at it, but Bruce glanced at it and said it all fits his theories." His voice darkened with grief and sadness.

Bucky felt his gorge rising and swallowed hard.

"There's more." Steve looked hesitant.

"Just say it, punk."

"There's some old files on there. Either we missed them the first time or they weren't there but..." He took a deep breath. "It looks like Lev wasn't meant to be your hunter if you went rogue. She was to be your replacement."

Bucky jerked in shock. _What?_

"I'm guessing if her cryofreeze hadn't gone wrong she would have become HYDRA's new Winter Soldier."

This was unexpected. Would HYDRA have just left him in cryofreeze to eventually fade away, like Lev? Or would they have released him one last time, just for Lev to track and kill?

T'Challa spoke up, breaking the gloomy silence. "Come, you must be exhausted, Captain. There is a room ready for you."

Steve hesitated, but accepted at Bucky's slight nod. "Yeah, okay. Thanks."

Bucky held out his hand. "I'll take the drive to Shuri, if you want."

T'Challa nodded, handing over the drive then turning to Steve, gesturing him to follow.

Bucky watched them leave, then strode away.

Shuri glanced up from the table she was slumped at and rubbed her eyes. Her expression brightened as her gaze fell on the drive in Bucky's hand. She yanked a small laptop towards her and held out her hand. Bucky hesitated after giving it to her.

"Are you staying?" Shuri asked, sounding surprised.

It was morbid, it would be heartbreaking, but Bucky felt compelled to stay and witness at least part of Levi's torment; she'd lived it, his pain would never compare to hers, it seemed the least he could do. He nodded and Shuri seemed to understand.

The first parts that came up on the screen were written reports and Shuri scanned them quickly, nodding and mumbling to herself, making notes on a small tablet beside her.

"Just like we speculated, cognitive subversion." She continued to read and make notes. "I've been talking with Dr. Banner and, based on what we were assuming was done, were going to try a direct reversal, in essence, a cognitive _affirmation_. Show Lev clips of calming, peaceful footage and inject endorphin stimulants, other 'feel good' hormones, try to reverse the damage; shrink her overgrown aggression centre, grow the impulse control area again. These reports only confirm that is the best way to try." Her fingers hovered over the touch pad, a video file had appeared and was waiting to play. After a pause, she tapped the pad.

A grainy video came up but Bucky had no problem recognizing Lev and his breath hitched in his throat. Lev was twisting in a chair as much as her restraints allowed, the memory suppressor attached to her head. Her devastated, garbled scream came through the speakers and stabbed straight into his heart.

"Bucky! Buc-" Lev cried, her voice breaking.

Shuri closed the video, sniffling. A second video came up and her fingers shook slightly as she tapped the pad again.

Lev was unmoving and blank faced now, secured in perhaps the same chair. Her head was strapped tightly and strange, painful looking devices held her eyes open a la Clockwork Orange. At least four IV lines ran into the crooks of her bruised arms, pumping the steroids and adrenaline into her veins. Her hair had already been shaved, the scar through her eye still bleeding fresh. Screams and bangs sounded over the speakers, light playing over Lev's cadaverous face. A monotonous voice droned in Russian and Bucky's fists clenched unconsciously as he listened.

"What is he saying?" Shuri whispered.

"_You belong to HYDRA. Your mind is HYDRA. You are death and pain. You live only to kill and maim..._" he broke off with a trembling exhale, fighting to keep his voice steady. "_Kill or be killed. No mercy, no pity. You will slaughter all who stand in your way. You are alone, there is no one to save you. You are death, you are death, you are death. _And then it just repeats."

"Oh, Lev." Shuri's voice held near bottomless sorrow. She wiped at her eyes before hitting the pad and pulling the drive free. She tossed it aside with a shudder.

Bucky took a deep breath, fighting with everything he had to not break down. Shuri's hand rested briefly on his, then pulled away. She stood suddenly, channeling her horror into action.

"I _will _reverse this." She vowed. Seemingly renewed with fresh energy, she turned away and almost leapt from her chair.

Bucky watched for a few moments but Shuri was completely focused on her work and he slunk away quietly. He found himself wandering outside again but, rather than returning to the rock formation and gerbil family, he decided to collapse not far from the palace. A convenient rock provided a seat back and for the longest time, Bucky had no energy or drive to do anything. The sun moved across the sky, shadows playing across his face, voices and laughter of Wakandian's nearby drifted on the wind to his ears, but he stayed motionless, mind churning, trying to chew the newest information about Lev's treatment into swallowable chunks, but they would never be palatable.

He was encouraged by Shuri's newfound confidence, and if there was anyone smart enough on Earth to help Lev, it would be her, but the footage of Lev's torture played across his mind's eye on a devastating loop. Eyes forced open, face bleeding, while death and chaos played out in front of her; the disembodied Russian voice, hooking it's claws deep into her mind.

No doubt the President will want to see the footage for herself, but it would definitely clear Lev of any guilt for her actions. There was no way she could be held accountable for what she did now. As hard as the footage was to see, and the reports to read, they would guarantee Lev's clemency.

_But, what then?_

Shuri reversed the damage, removed HYDRA's corruption and Levi woke up, then what happened? Lev's guilt at her actions, involuntary as they were, would still eat away at her. Nearly a thousand people dead, millions more disrupted as their country burned and staggered, how did you recover from that? Bucky would do all he could to help, would love and support her unflinchingly, but how much was too much? Maybe it would be better, for Lev at least, if she simply-

"Buck?"

Bucky startled, muscles creaking and popping after hours of immobility. Steve stood a few feet away, looking tired but still much more refreshed than before. He sat at Bucky's side with a groan.

"T'Challa says you've been out here for hours."

Bucky nodded, not looking towards Steve. He cleared his throat. "Shuri and I, we... reviewed some of that drive you brought."

"Bucky, you shouldn't have-"

"I needed to." Bucky interrupted, voice strengthening. "Levi _lived _that; the least I could do was witness it."

"Was it as bad as we thought?"

"Worse. I don't know if you can come back from that."

"Lev can."

"She's not bulletproof, punk. She's only human."

"And she's strong, and she has you, and me, and the whole team behind her."

"Will that be enough?"

"It has to be." Steve replied quietly. "You're not the only one who misses her, who wants her back. She's like a sister to me. Shit, we're a family, she _is _my sister."

Bucky was silent for long moment. "I don't know, if Shuri removes all that... shit from her mind, what Levi will want. If she'll stay here for a while, go back to the Tower-"

"Hide out in Bucharest and try to buy plums?" Steve teased gently.

Bucky smirked wryly, reaching over to punch the punk's shoulder. "Wherever she goes though, I'll be with her and... if she decides to leave the team, I won't be staying either."

Steve nodded silently. In truth, he'd been expecting this. It wouldn't surprise him at all if Lev just dropped everything and disappeared, started living completely off the grid and away from civilization. The brief image of a small cabin, wood smoke trailing from the chimney and Lev emerging from the front door, holding a tin cup of steaming coffee as the sun glittered through the trees hit him then.

Whatever Levi decided, she deserved peace and tranquility after all this. And Bucky deserved it too.

The men went quiet and reflective then, lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Steve cleared his throat and broke the silence. "I've got to head back. Bruce and Nat need help. I just came to bring the drive and check in."

Bucky nodded absently, his attention still elsewhere when Steve stood, despite himself reflexively standing as well. Only Steve's hand slapping his shoulder pulled him fully out of his own head.

"Get some sleep, jerk."

Shuri's message had been cautiously optimistic and Bucky's heart pounded in his chest as he entered the lab. Shuri looked up and smiled widely.

"I was just about to bring her out of freeze. T'Challa's on his way too." Even as she spoke, the King entered, Okoye silent at his side.

"Did it work?" Bucky asked hesitantly, hating the faint quiver in his voice. Shuri had been working non-stop for the last ten days, stopping only to sleep and eat.

"I've removed all traces of HYDRA's indoctrination and managed to restore Lev's brain to her pre-corruption state. But... I can't do anything about how she'll feel when she wakes up. I've just taken away her killer attitude." Shuri's confident tone faltered slightly. T'Challa rested his hand on her shoulder.

"You have done well, better than anyone else could. It is up to Levka now."

Shuri bit her lip, eyes flicking to Bucky's as her fingers flew over the controls. With a whoosh of air, the cryofreeze was reversed and the containment cylinder retracted.

Lev blinked, her twisted expression jerking, her teeth clacked together. Her eyes fell closed again and she sagged against the restraints. Bucky leapt towards her, catching her upper arms and T'Challa was there as well when the restraints retracted, helping Bucky catch Lev's limp body. Okoye watched on high alert as they guided Lev towards the nearby gurney and laid her down. Shuri was there instantly with a thick blanket, pulling it up to Lev's chin as her teeth started to reflexively chatter with residual cold. The siblings stepped back, giving Bucky some privacy, but Okoye stayed alert and T'Challa was tensed to react as well if Lev woke up swinging, literally or figuratively.

"Levi?" Bucky murmured, leaning close. His fingertips burned as they stroked along her cheek, jolts shooting up his arm. It had been so long since he'd touched her. "Baby, are you there?"

Her eyelids fluttered, and Bucky caught the faintest whisper from her chapped lips. "Bucky?"

"I'm here, baby. I'm not going anywhere."

Her lids fluttered again and Bucky finally got to see her beautiful amethyst eyes, unfocused for a breath before locking on Bucky's. Gone was the hard, razor's edge of violence darkening her iris's to bruises, left was confusion and the beginnings of relief.

"Bucky." Her voice was stronger and her hands lifted weakly, brushing against his broad shoulders. Bucky wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and she half-crumpled, half-snuggled against him, her body beginning to shudder. Bucky's body trembled in answer and tears started to course down his cheeks.

"I missed you baby, so much." He choked. His lips brushed her forehead, groaning at the sensation. Lev whimpered and clawed weakly closer, nuzzling into his throat. Bucky closed his eyes in bliss, a bone-deep peace coiling through him, _fuck,_ he'd missed this, he'd missed her.

"Bucky, I..." Lev stuttered and Bucky felt her go rigid in his arms. "Oh god, Bucky. What have I done?"


End file.
